Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in town this week as he visited one of Burnley’s biggest local employers. Accompanied by MP Antony Higginbotham Mr Sunak spoke to employees of VEKA who will benefit from the National Insurance cut that came into effect last weekend as he took a tour of the site.
The visit marked the third time that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been to Burnley in the last 12 months. Last May he was knocking doors with the MP, in October he was at Burnley Boys and Girls Club to see the facilitates on offer for young people. And this week visited VEKA alongside holding a Prime Minister Connect session where he took questions from business leaders from across East Lancashire.
Commenting on this latest visit, local MP Antony Higginbotham said:
I've always said that my job is about getting Westminster focused on Burnley and Padiham and it was great to welcome the PM here once again.
When people think of Burnley and business, they think of manufacturing. So, when it came to bringing the Prime Minister up to our neck of the woods, VEKA was my first port of call.
He continued, It was brilliant for him to see first-hand the work done in Burnley by VEKA’S skilled technicians, which is then sent all over the country. We should never tire of shouting loudly about what we make and do locally, and for me this was another part of doing just that.
The Prime Minister met with the VEKA Board of Directors to discuss the growth of UK Manufacturing and the role that VEKA plays. He then took a tour of the factory meeting members of the Extrusion, Maintenance and Quality Lab teams.
An explanation of VEKA’s extrusion process followed by a demonstration of VEKA’s stringent quality testing and discussion about the positive use of their virgin and recycled compound in windows provided the Prime Minister a whistlestop tour of the award-winning business.
VEKA Managing Director Neil Evans said,
We were thrilled to host the British Prime Minister and have a chance to share what we do and how we do it as well as talk about the industry we operate in and the drivers of our growth. It was great to be able to introduce him to some of our people that make VEKA the business it is today.
Speaking after the event Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
We’ve jumped up the league tables and are now the eighth largest manufacturer in the world, overtaking France, and that is only possible because of the impressive work being done by companies like Veka, and so many more.
It was great to meet some of the team at Veka, to hear about the continued growth and success that the company is having, no doubt because of the skilled employees they have alongside its ongoing investment.
Having visited Burnley three times now I know the huge potential it has. It is something that Antony Higginbotham raises with me all the time and he’s right to do it, because I’m determined to lead a government that delivers for places like Burnley every single day.
